Public Safety

Outdoor Warning Sirens

When the Siren Sounds

The City of Zeeland outdoor warning sirens are used to notify citizens of severe weather conditions or for a need to evacuate due to an accident or spill involving hazardous materials.

1. Severe Weather: Warning sirens will sound for 3 minutes. You are urged to seek immediate shelter wherever you are, in the basement or lowest floor level and in a small space located away from windows and outside walls.
2. Hazardous Material Accident or Spill: Warning sirens will sound for three minutes and may be repeated several times. Tune in to a local radio or TV station for instructions.

When Provided With Additional Instructions

1. If informed to shelter in place: close all windows and doors, turn off all fans and remain inside.
2. If requested to evacuate: Quickly gather prescription medication if possible and immediately proceed to a designated safe area as noted by Emergency Management radio or TV instructions.

Where to Find Helpful Information

1. Local Radio Stations: 1450 AM, 1260 AM
2. Television: WOOD -TV 8, WZZM-TV 13, WKZO-TV 3, FOX-TV 17

Planning

Before an event occurs, it helps to be prepared with some of the following tips:

1. Have an emergency plan in place.
2. Identify a location for family members to meet.
3. Have a flashlight, extra batteries, and duct tape to seal windows and doors, portable radio, bottled water available.

Home Safety

House Numbers

Are your house numbers up? In an emergency, seconds count and we need to find you! Please help us to help you, be sure your house number is clearly visible from the road for emergency vehicles to locate. These are some things to keep in mind when reviewing house numbers:

1. Be sure your numbers are at least 3 inches tall and preferably reflective so they can be seen at night
2. They should be high enough on your house to be found easily (not under doors or on your porch steps or hidden behind overgrown shrubs etc.)
3. Be sure they are always in good repair
4. If your house it back more than 50 feet, be sure that your house number is also located on your mailbox or near the road
5. Do not block them, especially in the winter with Christmas lights or decorations

Sometimes it is very difficult to find an address in a stressful emergency situation, make it easier on firefighters!

Personal Safety

Smart 911

Smart911 is a free service that allows citizens across the U.S. to create a Safety Profile for their household that includes any information they want 911 to have in the event of an emergency. Then, when anyone in that household dials 911 from a phone associated with their Safety Profile, their profile is immediately displayed to the 911 call taker providing additional information that can be used to facilitate the proper response to the proper location. At a time when seconds count, being able to provide 911 with all details that could impact response the second an emergency call is placed could be the difference between life and death.

Be smart about safety and sign up today. Give 911 the information they need to better help you and your family in the event of an emergency.

In Case of Emergency (ICE) Contacts

The ‘ICE’ acronym was developed as a way to put a next to kin in a cell phone. ‘ICE’ stands for “In case of emergency.”

In the case of an emergency, emergency responders on scene can open your cell phone and scroll down to your ICE contact to call a family member and inform them of an emergency. This can be vital in an emergency because if you’re unresponsive, medical responders can ask the ‘ICE’ contact important medical information. Responders can also inform the ‘ICE’ person of the incident.

How To Program Your Phone

1. Open the contacts in your cell phone
2. Select “Add Contact”
3. Under name, type “ICE – Name of family member” Examples: “ICE Mark”, or “ICE Jamie” More Examples: “ICE 1” and “ICE 2”
4. Add phone number to call emergency contact

Now if you have an emergency, responders will scroll down to your ‘ICE’ contact and call that contact.